Leading US Drug Companies Conspired To Inflate Prices Up To 1,000%

Dr Peter Gøtzsche exposes big pharma as organized crime

It was just a matter of time to catch some of the conspirators. Unfortunately, many others are hiding as the conduct is pervasive in the industry. Where huge profits are involved, corruption is a way of life. That's the epitome of "power".

But further, there is a deeper layer that the media seem to have missed: lawmakers who surely enjoyed the $27.5 million from the the industry lobbies in 2018. Their silence were bought or maybe was it a last preoccupation of theirs, just didn't care enough, as the money was flowing in.

But back to our bigpharma cartel... we ought to wonder how many people have died as a result of their price fixing, people who could no longer afford their drugs (even though the latter have so many side effects)? Who s going to pay for that? Unless a courageous judge ever decides to push the envelop, EC do not foresee that any executives will be sentenced for any patients' health aggravation resulting in death.

What is more? Then we have the conventional drug market (non generic drugs) whose prices ever skyrocket every year. If it isn't price fixing, what is this? How expensive do drugs have to be before the law enforcement steps in? This is competition, folks! Generic drugs were seen as a solution but ended up suffering from the same corruption.

And please mark our words, hospitals willing to beat bigpharma by creating their own non-profit companies will eventually succumb to the same disease because it is the environment that wants it: competition. Either you make profits or you are left behind. Today generic brands from India are sought but paying so little in this subversive environment carries another risk: bad quality products. No matter how we look at the picture, the collapse of BigPharma has started.

That is why we cannot trust any power structure nor wealth concentration. Both are intentionally misguiding. Yet those are the people who command the economy. But the most dangerous price fixing game is that of world currencies. Mega hedge funds work in concerto with big banks to keep their favorite currencies at the top. But nobody is going to jail. A slap on the wrists (a fine) is generally the only punishment, while the lives of millions if not billions of people hang by a thread:

SOME EXAMPLES: Currency-Rigging Scandal Leaves $2 Billion Up for Grabs (bloomberg 2017) ... Standard Chartered fined $40M for currency rigging ‘cartel’(nypost 2019) .... Rigging of Foreign Exchange Market Makes Felons of Top Banks (nytimes 2015)... Deutsche Bank AG agreed to pay $190 million to settle U.S. litigation accusing it of rigging prices in the roughly $5.1 trillion-a-day foreign exchange market (reuters 2017) ... Bank of America settles currency-rigging lawsuit (2015)

We live in a society where everything is rigged and destructive beyond anything most can fathom. And very soon, there will not be any way back but to embrace a money-free society.

The Washington Post investigates price fixing of generic drugs

MAY 2019 | Leading US drug companies conspired to inflate prices of common medicines by up to 1,000%, prosecutors say

Industry-wide scheme affects prices of more than 100 treatments used for HIV, asthma, cholesterol, ADHD and anti-depressants, huge legal case alleges ............... Leading drug companies including Teva, Pfizer, Novartis and Mylan conspired to inflate the prices of generic drugs by as much as 1,000 per cent, according to a far-reaching lawsuit filed on Friday by 44 states. The industry-wide scheme affected the prices of more than 100 generic drugs, according to the complaint, including lamivudine-zidovudine, which is used to treat HIV; budesonide, an asthma medication; fenofibrate, which is used to treat high cholesterol; amphetamine-dextroamphetamine for ADHD; oral antibiotics; blood thinners; cancer drugs; contraceptives; and antidepressants.............

In court documents, the state prosecutors lay out a brazen price-fixing scheme involving more than a dozen generic drug companies and just as many executives responsible for sales, marketing and pricing.......... Although the complaint paints Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, which is based in Pennsylvania, as a leader in the conspiracy, it describes the conduct as “pervasive and industry-wide”................ It is a more expansive version of a suit filed in December 2016 in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania... FULL ARTICLE https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/drug-companies-inflate-prices-us-teva-pfizer-novartis-mylan-court-case-a8910606.html

FURTHER READINGS

Goldman Sachs asks in biotech research report: ‘Is curing patients a sustainable business model?’ (2018)
Goldman Sachs analysts attempted to address a touchy subject for biotech companies, especially those involved in the pioneering “gene therapy” treatment: cures could be bad for business in the long run..... However, such treatments offer a very different outlook with regard to recurring revenue versus chronic therapies,” analyst Salveen Richter wrote in the note to clients Tuesday. “While this proposition carries tremendous value for patients and society, it could represent a challenge for genome medicine developers looking for sustained cash flow.”
https://www.cnbc.com/2018/04/11/goldman-asks-is-curing-patients-a-sustainable-business-model.html?fbclid=IwAR2rHHE5by9gRCDJhVNHDwsDsu2Ey-Q6x94yGHiOCBs9a_L-OjIN7whoQKw

AG FERGUSON EXPANDS LAWSUIT AGAINST PHARMA COMPANIES OVER GENERIC DRUG PRICE FIXING (dotgov website)
Previously, the suit named generic drug manufacturers Heritage Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Aurobindo Pharma USA, Inc.; Citron Pharma, LLC; Mayne Pharma (USA), Inc.; Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; and Teva Pharmaceuticals USA, Inc. as defendants. The states are seeking to expand the complaint to include Actavis Holdco U.S., Inc.; Actavis Pharma, Inc.; Ascend Laboratories, LLC; Apotex Corp.; Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Inc.; Emcure Pharmaceuticals, Ltd.; Glenmark Pharmaceuticals, Inc.; Lannett Company, Inc.; Par Pharmaceutical Companies, Inc.; Sandoz, Inc.; Sun Pharmaceutical Industries,Inc.; and Zydus Pharmacuticuals (USA), Inc.

The Billionaire And The Drug Price-Fixing Scandal (2017)
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2017/04/18/the-billionaire-and-the-drug-price-fixing-scandal/#4a33d2c23aa3

(MAY 2019) In January, federal filings showed that the lobbying group for the pharmaceutical industry spent about $27.5 million on lobbying in 2018 amid pressure to lower drug prices. This is a record annual total for the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, or PhRMA, which represents most of the nation's largest drug companies, including Teva and Pfizer. PhRMA's previous record lobbying bill topped out at just over $25 million when the industry fought the Affordable Care Act in 2009. https://www.cnn.com/2019/05/13/health/generic-drug-price-lawsuit-bn/index.html

FDA sanctions against some Indian drug plants raise concerns about the U.S. generic-drug supply (2014)
https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2014/04/are-generic-drugs-made-in-india-safe/index.htm

Major US hospitals launch not-for-profit drug company to battle pharmaceutical corporations
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-healthcare-hospitals-drug-company-not-for-profit-pharmaceutical-corporations-civica-rx-a8525236.html